Luxury and Blockchain: A Perfect Match

The Rise of Digital Product Passports

Luxury watches, jewelry, and leather brands are increasingly leveraging blockchain technology to bring real impact to their businesses. One provider of such solutions is luxury fintech Vaultik, which combines Digital Product Passports with certificates of ownership and on-chain insurance.

Vaultik’s platform uses proprietary triple-factor authentication to tie together ownership and authenticity. The company operates both directly and via Web3 protocols, including the Hedera distributed ledger, and has partnered with insurtech firm Avata to provide certificates of ownership and integrated insurance protection at both B2B and B2C levels.

How It Works

When a luxury item is created, a unique Digital Product Passport is generated, containing information about the item’s provenance, specifications, and ownership history. This passport is stored on the blockchain, providing an immutable record of the item’s life cycle.

Additionally, Vaultik’s platform includes an integrated insurance component, which provides protection against theft, loss, and damage. The insurance policy is stored on the blockchain, ensuring that it travels with the item even when it changes ownership.

Luxury Timepieces

An important use case for Vaultik’s technology is the luxury watch market. The company is partnering with London-based start-up NIX Time, which customizes watches by established luxury brands like Rolex.

NIX Time uses Vaultik’s technology to power Digital Product Passports with integrated insurance. The passports also feature the original serial number of each watch, alongside authentication via the established London dealers from which they have been sourced, and an additional warranty.

The Secondary Market

Blockchain has significant implications when it comes to the secondary market. Vaultik has built an AI-powered algorithm that affects real-time valuations of luxury assets for resale.

The company is entering the secondary market by powering certificates of ownership and authenticity for central London luxury consignment store Luxe Dressing. These feature integrated anti-damage insurance with repairs executed by specialist partners.

Fine Jewelry

Transparency of provenance is significant where fine jewelry is concerned. Veteran jeweler Amedeo Scognamiglio is partnering with Vaultik for Digital Product Passports and insurance for both his namesake brand and fine jewelry brand Faraone Mennella.

The partnership addresses the need to secure the provenance and quality of his pieces, he told me—”the ability to monitor the entire life cycle of our jewelry so that its integrity and originality can never be questioned.”

Furniture and Leather Goods

Italian designer furniture and custom upholstery brand Superevo works with patented material Polimex—developed in-house. Superevo is using Vaultik’s technology to document the life cycle of its products on the blockchain, to enhance transparency and assure its customers of their provenance and uniqueness.

Ghisò, a sustainably minded leather goods outfit, sources all of its materials within a radius of 8km of its factory in Italy’s Tuscan region. The company is also using Vaultik’s technology to provide Digital Product Passports and insurance for its products.

The Wider Ecosystem

Of course, other more established blockchain platforms already operate in the space—most prolific being Aura Blockchain Consortium and Arianee Protocol.

However, as Vaultik’s co-founder and Meta alum Pietro Novelli contends, Vaultik’s integrated insurance component is a significant differentiator, so he sees such platforms as potential partners rather than competitors.

Conclusion

Vaultik’s innovative technology is poised to revolutionize the luxury industry by providing a secure and transparent way to verify the authenticity and ownership of high-end products. With its integrated insurance component, Vaultik is providing a new revenue stream for luxury brands, while also enhancing customer loyalty and retention.

FAQs

Q: What is Vaultik’s technology?

A: Vaultik’s technology combines Digital Product Passports with certificates of ownership and on-chain insurance, using proprietary triple-factor authentication to tie together ownership and authenticity.

Q: How does Vaultik’s technology work?

A: When a luxury item is created, a unique Digital Product Passport is generated, containing information about the item’s provenance, specifications, and ownership history. This passport is stored on the blockchain, providing an immutable record of the item’s life cycle.

Q: What is the significance of the secondary market for Vaultik?

A: The secondary market is a critical component of Vaultik’s technology, as it allows for the verification of ownership and authenticity of luxury assets for resale.

Q: What are the benefits of Vaultik’s technology for luxury brands?

A: Vaultik’s technology provides a new revenue stream for luxury brands, while also enhancing customer loyalty and retention. Additionally, the technology provides a secure and transparent way to verify the authenticity and ownership of high-end products.